The Mobile Suit Gundam IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS G smartphone app is the gift that keeps on giving for IBO fans as, while no one outside of Japan gets to play it, we do get added content with Urdr Hunt and IRON-BLOODED ORPHANS MSV and other side stories. Speaking of MSV, several mobile suits have been revealed and are getting Premium Bandai kits, the latest of which is the upgraded form of Gundam Hajiroboshi. And no, it’s not a ‘Repair’, nor a ‘Rebuild’.
Going into numbered forms for naming convention, we have the Premium Bandai exclusive HG Gundam Hajiroboshi 2nd Form, which you can see here is posing gloriously along with HG Gundam Asmoday. As I’m not the most familiar with these new wave of IBO mobile suits, let’s do a quick comparison between the Gundam Hajiroboshi variations we know.
Here we have the three Gundam Hajiroboshi variations revealed so far. We can see that between the 1st and 2nd Forms, the majority of the differences are on the torso, shoulders, and the rear binders. I can totally see why they went the Premium Bandai route for this kit. And just for the sake of comparison, here’s the 2nd Form alongside Gundam Marchosias.
I’m wondering if at some point, Gundam Hajiroboshi will eventually become as close as it can to Gundam Marchosias. In any case, let’s not get ahead of how Urdr Hunt will progress and focus on this particular kit.
One of the negatives people have with both Marchosias and Hajiroboshi is the dependence on color-correcting stickers. So, I’m trying to figure out how many stickers this kit would need. If it’s the red parts, then it’s not much of an issue. If it’s this pinkish white color, then that’s more of a challenge. Instead of going pure white, this mobile suit lineage uses this particular shade that you can only reproduce with mixing paint. And for a weekend modeler/builder like me who’s primarily dependent on spray cans for paint, then this will be an issue as I haven’t found anything to match this color.
Outside of mostly cosmetic armor panel changes, the 2nd Form utilizes binders similar in structure to those used by Gundam Marchosias. These binders are connected to the lower sections of the back via several hinges. I just hope they’re able to hold the weight of these rather large units. I’m curious to find some hints on how this unit was repaired in such a manner. I’m also curious if these binders would also house sub arms, again just like Marchosias.
With these armatures, you can position them in a way to launch wire anchors. And you can probably see the glorious weapon this mobile suit is wielding.
The other standout equipment of the 2nd Form is its new Cross Mace, which totally gives me Nicholas Wolfwood (from Trigun) vibes. The only difference is that Wolfwood’s weapon shoots enemies, this one smashes them.
Here’s everything that comes with the kit. And again, I do want to get them if only for that particular shade of white. But we’ll see, I can put this on pre-order while I find the most suitable spray paint to match that color.
HG 1/144 Gundam Hajiroboshi 2nd Form
November 2023 / ¥2,600
Premium Bandai Exclusive
